


Dark Dreams

by Moonrose91



Series: Gift Verse [25]
Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, Graphic Description, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-16
Updated: 2012-11-16
Packaged: 2017-11-18 19:24:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/564444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonrose91/pseuds/Moonrose91
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a darkness, deep and deadly, where he sinks at night.</p><p>It has only gotten worse since <em>then</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dark Dreams

Clint couldn’t see.

That was the worst part. Not the sloshing of some unknown liquid, not the taste of dirt and death in his mouth. Not the fear he could smell.

It was the darkness so deep that he could not see, so deep that he was sure it was going to leap up and smother him.

The unknown liquid got higher and it continued to slosh around, up to his thighs and he tripped, submerging before he could close his mouth.

It was blood that swarmed in, staining his taste buds and covering them. He clawed his way up above the level of the blood and then…

A scream.

A scream that would be a plea in anyone else, and Clint knew that voice, knew it better than his own.

“Elizabeth!” he shouted, even if he knew that it was fruitless.

She could not hear him, but there was another scream, of fear and terror, that ripped through his heart and he began to wade through the blood. There was another cry, tapering off and high. He rushed towards it, the blood reaching his chest as he began to swim.

There was a wail and Clint struggled forward, the sobs pressing down on him in the darkness. There was only those two things, and Elizabeth needed him, but he didn’t know where she was, or who had her and he was panting, gasping for breath, and all there was, was the darkness, and Elizabeth’s cries.

His hands hit something and he was pulling himself out. He could hear more cries, louder and sharper, and he stumbled forward.

_“Elizabeth!”_

Clint shot straight up in bed with strangled cry. The bed was cold on Phil’s side, but he was up, throwing aside sheets and blankets, stumbling to his feet and yanking on a sweatshirt and he was stumbling out the door and into Phil’s arms.

“Clint, what is it?” Phil questioned, soothingly and Clint looked up at him.

“Lizzie, eyas…I need to see her,” Clint stumbled out and Phil reached up, gently placing a hand against his face. “Clint?” he asked.

“I had a nightmare. It was dark and full of blood. I thought I would drown, and then I heard Elizabeth screaming. I heard her screaming and I need to make sure she’s okay. As okay as she can be right now, anyway, with casts and stitches, and barely being able to sleep,” Clint explained, looking away in shame.

“I just came back from doing the same,” Phil admitted and Clint looked up in surprise.

“You aren’t the only one with nightmares Clint,” he added and Clint buried his head into Phil’s chest and, through the thin material of the t-shirt, he could _feel_ the scar that Loki left and Clint wondered, distantly, if the scars Loki left on him were just as obvious, just as noticeable, to see.

“Want to come check on her with me again?” Phil asked.

“Yes. So very, very, much,” Clint answered and stood up normally, making his way through memory to his daughter’s room.

He opened the door and was rewarded with the sight of Elizabeth asleep holding her Nafu loosely under her arm. Her hair was a tangled mess, somehow, and Clint sagged against the doorframe.

It was all just a nightmare after all.

Phil rubbed his back and Clint easily turned into the comfort, nuzzling into Phil’s neck slightly. “I love you,” Clint stated.

“I love you too. Come back to bed?” Phil asked.

“In a minute,” Clint admitted.

Phil nodded a bit, but neither moved till Phil dropped his hand and Clint turned back to staring at his baby girl, safely asleep. He heard Phil walk off, but Clint stepped into the room, easily walking over to Elizabeth’s bed.

He smoothed back some hair from her forehead and she stirred a little, but not close to waking. He smiled weakly and made sure none of the stitches had popped, that he could see, before he tucked the blanket around her unnecessarily.

With that, he leaned over and gave her a kiss good night and left.

It was just a nightmare.

He was sure more would come, but hopefully no more tonight.

“You okay?” Phil asked as Clint slipped back into bed, half throwing, half carefully arranging himself so he could cling to Phil, using Phil’s shoulder as a pillow.

“For now,” Clint admitted softly.

Phil nodded and Clint began to play with Phil’s t-shirt.

“What was your nightmare about?” Clint asked.

“You had to be killed and Elizabeth was gone,” Phil answered.

Clint looked up at him, but in the dark he could not see the expression on Phil’s face. “I’m here, and so is Elizabeth. And like hell Natasha would ever let them kill me,” Clint responded and Phil laughed softly, banishing the last dregs of darkness from Clint’s mind.

While neither fell back to sleep, Clint still felt awake enough to face his teammates as the sun beckoned in a new day.


End file.
